Java Jive
by Yami's Girl 117
Summary: Rivetra Coffee Shop Vs. Tea Shop AU: ExperTeas, a successful tea shop run by former war veteran, Levi Ackerman, finds itself in the middle of an unwanted rivalry when a new, popular coffee shop opens across the street.
1. Chapter 1- ExperTeas

**Chapter 1: Exper****_Teas_**

His pen scratched against a thin sheet of bound paper as he glanced between it and the inside of a large, silver canister, about a third of the way filled with tea leaves. He sighed, asterisking the basic black tea on his paper as a reminder to order more and setting the book and pen down in favor of pulling the canister off the shelf. It would have been easier to keep the larger canister holding the bulk of the supply on the shelf rather than refill the smaller one at least four times a day. However, Levi had no intentions of forsaking the comforting aesthetic of one hundred-four matching, silver canisters lining the wall behind his counter.

It was no surprise to him that his own favorite was one of the more popular blends; those who came into the shop as inexperienced tea drinkers always seemed to be overwhelmed by the selection. If he had a nickel each time he heard someone express they had no idea there were so many different kinds of tea, there'd really be no point in him running a tea shop for a living.

"Gonna need that canister when you're done with it, boss." Levi glanced towards the left where the familiar voice of his employee came from. Auruo Bossard, along with Erd Ginn, who was currently listing off a number of their selections to an elderly woman with poor eyesight, had been working for Levi since he opened up shop. At the time, they were both college students, eager to make enough money to get by for rent and other expenses.

He was surprised, however, that when they both had finally graduated, two years ago for Auruo, three for Erd, that neither had moved on to find bigger, better jobs. They were tolerable, Erd more so than Auruo, and did their work well enough that he didn't mind keeping them around, Levi even going so far as to tacking on a raise every now and then to show his appreciation. They were his go-to men, ones he could rely on to call in when he needed, and even to hand off the keys to let them manage his younger employees.

Levi gave the canister to the taller, yet surprisingly younger (his looks unfortunately did his true age no justice) man. Turning back towards his clipboard, he glanced at the silver watch around his wrist. They would be closing in about fifteen minutes, both a disappointment, because he absolutely enjoyed his job, and a relief, in that it meant he was done socializing for the day. Being social certainly wasn't Levi's 'thing,' though of course from a business standing point, such a 'thing' was commonly essential. It wasn't as though he hated people, but rather the fact that the stoic man was socially awkward. He was gruff, short-tempered, hard to understand, and did not pick up on everyday social cues from others; qualities that had no consequence of having during his service in the military. But as a business owner and manager of a tea shop? While his quirks were strange to deal with, luckily it did not take him too long to find a decent group of workers who could somewhat understand him and help make dealing with strangers a bit more bearable.

Levi made a few more notes on his clipboard, peeking into the other remaining canisters on his list and noting which needed re-filling and re-supplying. Asterisking one more blend on the list, he checked his watch again, before heading towards the back of the shop. He set his clipboard on his desk, reaching over his black chair to the black, Wi-Fi router atop a desk shelf. He flicked the switch, the lights of the tower immediately turning off. During the time since the grand opening of his shop, he had found that the most effective way to have lingering customers who stayed for the complimentary Wi-Fi was not to give warnings of the shop's closure that evening, but rather cut off the very thing for which they stayed for. Though at first it had caused confusion, a few recommendations of better routers to use instead, along with a couple complaints, it eventually became clear that the connection cutting just as soon as closing time hit was certainly no coincidence.

"Start cleaning up." He spoke to Auruo and Erd as he came back towards them. They complied, both falling into their cleaning duties, ritualistically remaining mostly silent (though Erd couldn't help but to tease Auruo every now and then to get his goat,) as their boss set to closing out the cash registers. It wasn't until the raven haired man zipped up and set the money pouch in front of the register that he'd start talking to them again.

"Make sure you clean that back table well, some shitty brat knocked his cup over." Levi spoke as he picked up his broom, beginning to sweep the floor as Auruo made his way to the last table in the shop.

"Rumor has it a new coffee shop's moving in across the street…you nervous 'bout it?" Erd had asked, wiping down the counter a third time, a precautionary measure he took to prevent Levi from making him clean the entire thing again should its cleanliness not meet his standards.

The veteran's eyes narrowed, flicking up to the store front directly across from them. "No." Levi's expression remained the same, thoroughly sweeping the floor under the tea shelves.

"Wait, what? New coffee shop?! That's fucking ridiculous! Who in their right mind would open a coffee joint across from a tea shop; the best tea shop in town, I might add." Auruo boasted with a smug look on his face, his hands on his hips as he cast a glance at his boss.

Levi kept to his cleaning, Auruo visibly deflating as his boss completely tuned out what he said.

"It's plausible; we've had our share fair of customers ask if we sell coffee, and the closest shop that isn't some over-priced franchise is clear across town." Erd continued, shaking his rag of any debris into the trash.

"Plausible or not, whoever's doing it must be some kind of idiot."

"Let 'em open whatever they want, I don't give two shits." Levi set the broom back in its place behind the counter, his fingers running against the counter top. Satisfied with Erd's work, he pulled off his apron, folding it neatly and setting it on a shelf beneath the counter.

"If they work harder than us, they deserve to do better. If not, that's their own damn problem," he spoke, picking up the money pouch and walking to the door. "Leave the door unlocked but set the alarm when you leave. I'm coming back after I finish up at the bank."

The two men nodded, watching as their boss left the shop. It was routine, at this point, his verbal direction practically useless (though they never dared to say so.) Levi always returned to the shop Friday nights; not only to put in orders, cut checks, manage advertising and other duties that fell under him, but to do a thorough, wall to wall, front to back, side to side, deep cleaning of the store. Of course, knowing this made is seem as if performing their own cleaning duties that evening was a bit redundant, however, after knowing Levi for as long as they both had, both Auruo and Erd knew this was far from the case.

"Say, how'd you know a coffee shop was taking over that empty place across the street?" Auruo asked not long after they had both finished their own duties, Erd setting the alarm to the shop. "There's brown paper covering all the windows."

Erd chuckled. 'Well, besides the big 'Help Wanted' sign on the front door, the new shop owner's a friend of mine."

"Huh…" The younger man narrowed his eyes, finally noticing the large sign, plain as day. Pursing his lips, he pushed open the door as Erd gave the go ahead, "I still think it's pretty fucking dumb to open a coffee shop across the st-" He doubled over in pain, an amused Erd walking past and rolling his eyes as Auruo tried to recover from biting his tongue.


	2. Chapter 2- Now Hiring

**Chapter 2: Now Hiring**

"Miss Ral?"

"Hi, yes, this her. Who may I ask is calling?" The young woman spoke into the microphone of her earphones, cellphone in hand, screen currently displaying a pair of shoes for sale online. Her lips pursed as she looked at the pair of flats, trying to come up with at least five outfits she could wear with them before deciding on the possible purchase.

"My name is Eren Jaegar…I saw your help wanted ad for a part-time barista?"

Her brows rose, a smile coming to her lips as she quickly tapped the home button of her phone, opening a notepad app to type into. "Ah, yes; I take it you're interested, Eren? And please, call me Petra." She spoke, tapping out his name into her phone.

"Mm- yes, Petra."

"Great, do you mind if I ask you a few questions while I have you on the phone? Oh- and the number you're calling from, is this your best contact?" She shifted in her seat, almost knocking over the Styrofoam cup on the table. Her hand moved quickly, grabbing the top of the drink.

"…S-sure, I don't mind. And yes, it's my house phone actually."

"Great...Okay, so tell me, Eren…have you had any prior experience working in a coffee shop?" Petra asked, waiting patiently for an answer. The phone had gone mostly silent on Eren's end, save for what sounded like a few whispers from someone else.

"Um…no, not in a shop or anything. My mom usually asks me to put the coffee on in the mornings, though."

Petra bit back a smile as she heard someone groan in the background; it was clear they had been trying to coach him on how to answer.

"Well, that's definitely a start! It usually helps if you've had some prior experience with handling food and the like; but tell me this, do you think you'd be able to handle brewing more than just one pot of coffee at a time?"

"O-of course."

Petra continued tapping her thumbs against her phone, typing out the position he was applying and noting his lack of industry experience. She nodded, as though he were right in front of her, before continuing.

"And how about managing customers? Do you think you'd be able to meet the demands of the clientele in an orderly and timely fashion?"

"I think-" he paused again, whispers leaking through his receiver before he quickly spoke again "I mean yes! Absolutely I can."

Petra hummed, amused smile still present on her lips. "And what about your friend there, would they like to apply for a job as well?"

"Who, Mikasa? She already has a job with her cousin."

A light chuckle escaped the young, coffee shop owner as Eren's 'coach' groaned once again, lightly reprimanding him.

"Well, if she wants to reconsider, she can tag along with you for an interview as well." The ginger haired woman closed out of her notepad app on her phone, opening the calendar.

"But in the meantime, are you available to meet Tuesday afternoon? Say three o'clock? I'd like to get a more personal interview and find out about your schedule."

"Sure, Tuesday at three works fine."

"Perfect." She tapped the day on her calendar, a number of other interviews during that day popping up as well. She typed in his name for three o'clock, before exiting the calendar.

"I'll be conducting interviews in the shop, actually. The door will be unlocked so you can just come right in, okay?"

"Okay, great."

"Cool, I look forward to meeting you then! Thanks for calling." Petra spoke, hanging up after Eren said his goodbyes.

She sighed, setting her phone onto the table and picking up her drink in its place. Twenty interviews all lined up. And that was just for Tuesday. But as overwhelming as it seemed, she couldn't help to feel the excitement from it all. Her dream was coming together; in the form of her hard work, sacrifices and sheer determination...though perhaps determination was a bit of an understatement when taking into account that thirty drafts preceded her final business plan. But here she was, renovations complete, stock ordered, marketing lined up, and ready to pick her staff. It was surreal in a way; despite being confident that she could achieve her dreams, each morning she woke up, she couldn't help the smile that came to her lips as she realized it truly was reality.

_Bzzzzzzzz_

Petra glanced down as her cellphone vibrated, another unknown number appearing on the screen. She sighed, answering the phone to what was potentially interview number twenty one.

* * *

"Ymir, what are you doing here?" A very short, blonde teen asked in hushed voice. Despite the handful of people inside the new coffee shop (some early for their interview, some extra early, and one person late,) it was silent save for the occasional rustle of papers from one of the interviewees.

"Same as you." The freckled brunette leaned back in her chair, her voice toned at a normal volume and causing a few others to glance towards her. She paid no mind to her new audience, and instead found herself tempted to prop her feet up on the new, two person table she sat at.

"You already have a job across the street, you don't have to apply here just because I am."

Ymir chuckled. "Oh sweet Krista, I need a second job anyway. Gimpy's running out of extra shifts to give since school's out." She leaned forward, propping her hands into her chin as a sly, Cheshire smile came to her glossy, red lips.

"Working with you would just be an added ...perk, of course."

The blonde sighed, twisting the paper in her hands, then attempting to smooth it out upon remembering she had to hand it off. She looked to the center of the shop to a table set up with refreshments, momentarily debating on pouring herself a cup of coffee. However, her thoughts were cut off as the shop's bell rang, door opening and revealing yet another familiar face. She smiled s she continued to flatten her curled papers, about to say hello before finding her voice drowned out by that of Ymir's.

"Look who it is, I almost didn't recognize you without Mikasa halfway up your ass." She called out at the new arrival as he crossed the threshold of the glass door. He blinked, turning his head in the direction of Ymir. There was a bit of confusion settling in his green eyes as he stepped further into the shop.

"You work for Levi."

"Bingo! You're a lot smarter than I give you credit for, Eren." Ymir smirked, studying his appearance and deducing that his girlfriend must have helped him get ready.

"Ymir, thats not nice!" Krista scolded the other young woman, letting out a sigh as the freckled brunette threw a mock pout at her. There really was never any use in trying to point out the inconsideration and rudeness of what fell from the brunette's mind and into her mouth.

Eren came up to the two, fidgeting with the papers in his hands.

"Is this your first job interview, Eren?" Krista asked, a reassuring smile on her lips as she picked up on his slight nervousness.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Mikasa's been helping me prepare for it. I told her I'd be fine though, it's just a job interview, you know?" He said, twisting the papers as though wringing them dry of the information they carried.

"If you don't mind my asking, why don't you work for Mikasa's cousin?" The blonde expressed her curiosity. He already had an 'in' as he was dating the shop owner's cousin; and surely Mikasa would vouch on Eren's behalf.

But it wasn't Eren's voice that came to Krista's ears.

"That's because he thinks the two lovebirds would be too distracted from their work." Ymir raised her brows a few suggestive times, smirk ever present on her face.

"Well, he already makes me help clean his apartment." Eren began, neither commenting nor denying Ymir's statement. "Something about being there so much that I'm leaving my dead skin cells everywhere...I can't imagine what he'd make me do if I worked for him."

"Clean definitely. Maybe even make you count each individual tea leaf. In fact, I'm sure he would."

Krista rolled her eyes, tuning out the brunette. Apparently Eren practiced similarly. She turned a smile on her classmate, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Hopefully we'll both find jobs here then. It'll be nice to know a few people."

Eren nodded, returning a small smile of his own. He turned his head, movement catching in the corner of his eye. He watched as red head, maybe a few years older than himself, step through a doorway. She turned and spoke the man that followed her out (he seemed to be about the same age as the woman,) before making her way through the shop and out the front door.

"Krista Lenz?" The man called out, eyes scanning the room. As he caught the movement of the blonde teen, he gestured for her to make her way over.

"Ah-good luck!" Eren wished her. She thanked him, glancing back to Ymir and catching sight of the brunette's thumbs up. She smiled, crossing the room and following the man into the back.


End file.
